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Bathroom renovation design makes big impact

by Yellow Pages

An average bathroom design was the remaining blemish on a home renovation project, until a fresh perspective inspired a redesign that made a big impact.

Owners Bruce and Debbie didn't need any convincing to add some colour to their two bathrooms. "We didn't want any of those boring neutral tones; we were after a 'wow' factor," says Debbie. "Because there are no windows in either of those bathrooms, they needed to have impact." The main bathroom and toilet were the last in line for home renovation treatment by designer Jodie Carter, who redesigned the entire house. "They wanted something very dramatic, as it's the guest bathroom and people have towalk past it to get to the living room at the other end of the hall," says Jodie.

Originally, the couple had wanted some kind of artwork in the main bathroom renovations, but after looking at a few options such as painted glass, they decided on a feature wall of bathroom tiles instead. "Bruce and Debbie showed me the kinds of tiles they liked, and I did a few bathroom designs for them, using images I downloaded from the internet. They chose the ones they liked the most," says Jodie. "Once we got the feature wall sorted, it just flowed on from there."

Bruce and Debbie had some ideas for their new bathroom design, including clean lines and a simple approach to the bathroom layout. They also wanted a slight Asian touch, which Jodie managed to incorporate with the striking red, black and white tile scheme, reminiscent of a Japanese shoji screen. "There is a bit of red in our house design, so the colour scheme does carry through," says Debbie. The main bathroom was redesigned to create a more open plan and the old bath was ditched so they could fit in a large walk-in shower. Jodie moved the vanity to where the old shower was and wall mounted it to give a more spacious feeling to the room, with lower lighting adding a touch of pizzazz.

The bathroom renovation suffered a brief hiccup when it was discovered that some of the tiles in the feature-wall design were not available in Australia. "In Italy you can get these long strip tiles that go with the set, so I used them in my design, but we later found out that you can't get them here," says Jodie. With some running around, a suitable replacement was found, so the design didn't need to be altered.

The result is an amazing improvement on the old cramped and daggy bathroom design. Gone are the orange tiles and brown glass shower enclosure - in their place is a stylish and vibrant design, held together by the innovative bathroom tile scheme. Jodie admits that the feature walls were definitely the most challenging part of the design, at least for the tiler. "I had to do very detailed tiling plans for him, using special computer software (CAD), and I know that gave him a bit of a headache. But I'm sure he's very proud of it now," she says, as are Bruce and Debbie, awaiting their first guest to try the new bathroom renovation.

Contact a bathroom renovator in your area to discuss bathroom designs.